Flap with opening mechanism

Abstract

Flap (1) including opening mechanism, wherein the opening mechanism comprises a first guide (4) and a second guide (5), in or on each of which a guide pin (2, 3) fastened to an inner side of the flap (1) is mounted, which guide pin is movable along a trajectory predetermined by the corresponding guide (4, 5) between a first end point and a second end point and vice versa, whereby the flap (1) is movable between a closed position and an open position and vice versa; wherein in at least one of the at least two guides (4, 5) the first end point and the second end point spatially diverge; wherein the flap (1) together with the opening mechanism is characterized in that the trajectories are selected such that during an opening process of the flap (1) it is first displaced from its position closing an opening (9) into the opening and is at least partially moved out of the opening (9) at the end of the opening process.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a flap with an opening mechanism for opening the flap. The flap can, in particular, be a charging flap of a vehicle, in particular an electric vehicle, behind which a fuel tank opening or, in the case of an electric vehicle, a charging interface is located.

[0002] Every vehicle today has an energy interface through which it is refueled with fuel in the case of combustion engines or charged with electricity in the case of electric vehicles. The energy interface, in the form of a fuel tank opening or a charging interface, is usually located in a body opening of the vehicle, which is closed with a lid. The lid is opened to refuel with fuel or electricity and can be closed again after refueling. A lid covering the fuel tank opening provides both access protection and weather protection, while also preserving the aesthetics of the vehicle body by covering the energy interface.

[0003] Numerous efforts are known from the prior art to protect the energy interface from the effects of the weather, not only when the lid is closed, but also to ensure that, for example, snow and water cannot affect the charging interface during the refueling process. For example, DE 10 2010 053 137 A1 discloses a charging interface for an electric vehicle in which the charging socket is protected from the effects of the weather during the charging process by a bellows that is pushed over the contacting charging plug when the charging flap is open. Alternatively, the document proposes designing the charging socket so that it can be moved axially into the body opening, so that during charging, both the charging socket and the charging cable plugged into it are located in the rear area of ​​the charging opening, thus providing protection against environmental influences.Document DE 196 42 687 A1 describes a locking device for securing a charging socket in a vehicle with a traction battery, such that the charging plug is locked against removal by means of a pivoting cover during the charging process. The pivoting cover also offers extensive protection against splash water or rain. Document DE 10 2016 223 010 A1 discloses a locking device for covering and uncovering a charging interface of a motor vehicle based on a pivotable cover element. This is attached to the vehicle body by means of a flexible connecting element and thus protects the charging interface from foreign objects falling or impacting from above, in particular rain and snow, in any position of the cover element.The documents CN 201 808 607 U and DE 10 2015 214 714 A1 each show a charging flap with a cover element attached to it, which covers the charging plug when the charging flap is open. The generic document DE 10 2015 214 784 A1 discloses an adjusting device with a closure flap for at least partially closing a closure opening on a vehicle, for example, a charging opening. In one embodiment, the closure flap opens inward in a path-controlled manner via two curved guide slots extending at an angle to one another, thus enabling the closure flap to partially or completely swing within the cavity accommodating a connector plug.

[0004] Based on this, the object of the invention is to provide a flap for covering an opening, which at the same time offers efficient weather protection for a device located in the opening, in particular for an energy interface present in the opening of a vehicle body.

[0005] A solution for this is provided by a flap including an opening mechanism according to claim 1 and by a correspondingly configured charging interface for a motor vehicle according to claim 8. In addition, a vehicle with this charging interface is also provided according to claim 9. Further embodiments emerge from the dependent claims and the accompanying description.

[0006] According to the invention, a flap including an opening mechanism is provided, wherein the opening mechanism has a first guide and a second guide, in or on each of which a guide pin is mounted, which is fastened to an inner side of the flap and is movable along a trajectory predetermined by the corresponding guide groove between a first end point and a second end point and vice versa, whereby the flap can be moved between a closed position and an open position and vice versa. According to the invention, the first end point and the second end point are spatially separated in at least one of the at least two guides. If necessary, more than the two mentioned guides can be provided.

[0007] The opening mechanism, which can also be referred to as a guide mechanism, guides the flap along a predetermined path during opening and closing by means of the guides and the guide pins inserted into or attached to them. The guides define the trajectories or paths along which the guide pins can slide. In other words, by selecting the geometry of the guides, any trajectories can be defined, which are specifically adapted to the geometry of the opening and / or the spatial constraints in the immediate vicinity of the opening.By supporting the lid using at least two guide pins, which act as support points and whose position can be moved along both trajectories, the movement dynamics of the flap can be adjusted in a planned manner during opening or closing, whereby the flap can, in particular, be moved and / or tilted in a predetermined manner. In other words, the kinematics of the opening or closing process of the flap can be modeled as required. This allows the flap to be used in cases where simply opening the flap horizontally and inserting it into the opening is not possible due to space constraints or other boundary parameters that limit the geometry of the space available in the opening.

[0008] The flap can, for example, have a conventional flat shape with, if appropriate, a slight curvature, wherein its outer side corresponds to the side that can be seen when looking at the opening from the outside, and its inner side corresponds to the side that faces the inside of the opening and thus, for example, in the case of a loading flap, the charging interface arranged in this opening. The opening mechanism is located on the inside of the flap and is expediently not visible from the outside when the lid is closed. The guide pins are attached to the inside of the flap, preferably at a certain distance from one another, wherein, for example, an upper guide pin is slidably mounted in or on the first guide and a lower guide pin is slidably mounted in or on the second guide.In particular, the guide pins can be bent so that they protrude vertically from the inside of the lid, for example, and are then bent laterally by approximately 90° so that their ends end in or on the guides. Thus, the movement of each guide pin in or on its guide can, for example, run in a plane that is preferably arranged substantially orthogonally to a surface that defines the opening.

[0009] The guides can preferably be designed as guide grooves, into which one end of a guide pin engages and is slidably mounted. However, the guides can also be designed as guide rails and be at least partially enclosed by appropriately shaped ends of the guide pins, so that they can be securely and slidably moved along the guide rails. Although the following description only refers to the guide grooves as exemplary guides, it should be understood that all statements apply analogously to guides configured as guide rails.

[0010] By displacing the support points of the flap (i.e., the ends of the guide pins) along the trajectories, the flap can be moved between a closed state (i.e., the flap closes the opening to be covered) and an open state (i.e., the flap allows access to the interior of the opening). The guide grooves or trajectories are preferably configured such that, when the lid is closed, the guide pins are located at first end points of the trajectories, and when the lid is open, they are located at second end points of the trajectories. In other words, the flap according to the invention can be configured such that a transition of the flap from the closed to the open state (or vice versa) is accompanied by a movement / displacement of the guide pins within the guide grooves from first end points to second end points.However, it should be noted that in at least one trajectory, the first endpoint may well be identical to the second endpoint. Consequently, the endpoints are to be understood as the kinematic endpoints of the movement of the guide pins along their trajectories and do not necessarily have to correspond to the structural endpoints of the guide grooves, whereby the latter can be understood as the beginning and end of the recess in the guide groove. In other words, in at least one trajectory, the endpoints of the movement of a guide pin along its trajectory may differ from the structural endpoints of the guide groove defining the trajectory.Preferably, for example, in at least one guide groove, the first and second end points of the movement of a guide pin can correspond to the same structural end of the associated trajectory, so that in the closed and open state of the flap, the guide pin rests at the same position on the trajectory.

[0011] In the flap with opening mechanism according to the invention, the trajectories are selected such that during an opening process of the flap it is first displaced from its position closing the opening into the opening and is then at least partially moved out of the opening at the end of the opening process. In this case, the directional vectors of the movement of the guide pins on their trajectories can point in the same direction at the beginning of the opening process. In particular, by selecting the shape of the trajectories, the kinematics of the flap can be adjusted such that the flap is first displaced slightly into the opening (e.g. without tilting it), then displaced upwards in a position essentially parallel to the opening surface and then slowly tilted, with its upper edge moving downwards. Finally, the flap can be moved out of the opening with its lower wheel leading, pushing its upper edge behind it.It should be emphasized that this kinematics is only one of countless others that can be easily realized with the flap according to the invention.

[0012] According to further embodiments of the flap with opening mechanism, the guide grooves can be arranged on the same side of the flap when viewed from above in its closed state. In other words, the guide grooves can both be arranged on the right or on the left side, so that the flap is mounted exclusively on the left or right side, i.e. entirely on one side. Alternatively, the flap can also be mounted on both sides, so that one guide groove is arranged on each side of the guide flap. In addition, the flap can also preferably be mounted on both sides in such a way that two guide grooves are arranged on each side of the flap, whereby their structural arrangement can be mirror-symmetrical. Such a four-point mounting, which uses four guide pins, allows the flap to be mounted and moved in a particularly stable and robust manner.

[0013] According to further embodiments of the flap with an opening mechanism, the guide grooves can be arranged in a plate element, so that the trajectories defined by them lie in one plane. This statement applies to one-sided mounting of the loading flap. If the flap is mounted on both sides, two plate elements can of course be provided, each of which can contain one, two, or more guide grooves, in which case the trajectories of one plate element can lie in one plane.

[0014] According to further embodiments of the flap with an opening mechanism, a connecting line between the first end points on the trajectories and the connecting line between the second end points on the trajectories may not be parallel to one another or may be arranged at an angle other than 0° (or 180°) relative to one another. In other words, the positional difference of the flap (for example in the vehicle coordinate system) between the closed state and the open state is reflected in the corresponding positional difference of the connecting line between the guide pins. In particular, the flap may be tilted in the open state compared to its closed state (or vice versa). By means of the opening mechanism, the tilting is not achieved by a rigid pivot axis, but by changing the positions of (at least) two bearing points of the flap relative to one another.

[0015] According to further embodiments of the flap with an opening mechanism, at a point in time during the opening process of the flap, when the flap is arranged in a position maximally retracted into the opening, one of the guide pins can have covered a longer distance on its trajectory than the other guide pin. Such kinematics exist when the flap experiences tilting during its movement. Generally, in various embodiments, the distance traveled by one guide pin between the first and second end points can be longer than the distance traveled by the other guide pin during opening or closing of the flap.This can be achieved, for example, by using appropriate actuators, by means of which one guide pin is moved at least two ways along its trajectory at a different speed than the other guide pin along its trajectory.

[0016] According to further embodiments of the flap with an opening mechanism, at least one of the trajectories can have an arcuate section whose legs are arranged at an acute angle relative to one another. This statement refers to the leg sections of the trajectories that directly adjoin the curved part of the arcuate trajectory. According to further embodiments, at least one region of the other trajectory (with a one-sided support of the flap) can be arranged between the two legs of the arcuate trajectory or surrounded by it. The other trajectory can also have an arcuate section whose legs are also arranged at an acute angle relative to one another, wherein this angle can be smaller than the acute angle of the trajectory surrounding this trajectory or the outer trajectory.The arched sections can be open essentially in the same direction.

[0017] An advantage of the flap according to the invention, including the opening mechanism, is that it can be mounted without hinges and is therefore not subject to any geometric constraints. Furthermore, the degree to which the flap protrudes from the opening when opened can be adjusted depending on the situation.

[0018] In further embodiments of the invention, a charging interface for a motor vehicle for charging its traction battery is provided, wherein the charging interface has a charging socket which is covered with the flap including the opening mechanism according to the embodiments described herein.

[0019] In still further embodiments of the invention, a motor vehicle is provided with a traction battery and the charging interface according to the invention.

[0020] Further advantages and embodiments of the invention will become apparent from the description and the accompanying drawings. Although the flap has been described with strong reference to loading flaps on motor vehicles, it should be clear that it is intended for any other application in which an opening in a surface is closed by means of a sliding flap and, when the flap is open, weather protection is to be provided by the flap at least partially protruding from the opening.

[0021] It is understood that the features mentioned above and those to be explained below can be used not only in the combination specified in each case, but also in other combinations or on their own, without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Fig. 1-3 show a flap with opening mechanism according to various embodiments in different views and with different positions of the flap. Fig. 4-6 show a charging interface, which can be closed with the flap according to the invention, in different stages of the opening process of the flap.

[0022] In the Fig. 1-3 illustrate the flap 1 including the opening mechanism according to the invention. The flap 1 is mounted in a body part 6 of a vehicle and serves to cover an opening 9 arranged therein, for example, a charging opening. The charging socket located in the opening 9 is Fig. 1-3 omitted for clarity.

[0023] The opening mechanism supports / holds the flap 1 securely in a closed position and also allows it to be moved from the closed to an open state. Fig. 1, the flap 1 is shown in the closed state viewed diagonally from the outside and in Fig. 3, the flap 1 is shown from the same perspective in the open state. In Fig. 2, the flap 1 is shown in a perspective obliquely from the rear in a state in which it is arranged in a position maximally retracted into the body part 6 during an opening or closing process.

[0024] The opening mechanism is based on a first guide 4 and a second guide 5, each of which, in the example shown, is designed as a guide groove in which a guide pin 2, 3 fastened to the inside of the flap 1 is mounted. Each of the guide pins 2, 3 is slidably mounted within the corresponding guide 4, 5 and can thus be moved along a trajectory predetermined by the corresponding guide 4, 5 between a first end point and a second end point and vice versa. This allows the flap 1 to be brought from a closed position to an open position and vice versa. The first guide 4 and the second guide 5 are arranged in a common plate element 7, which is expediently (but not necessarily) arranged essentially orthogonal to the opening 9 in the example shown.

[0025] As in Fig. 1, in the closed position of the flap 1, the first bearing point (end of the first guide pin 2) of the flap 1 is located at a first end of the first guide 4 and the second bearing point (end of the second guide pin 3) of the flap 1 is located at a first end of the second guide 5. In the open position of the flap 1, which in Fig. 3, the first bearing point and the second bearing point of the flap 1 are also located at the ends of their respective guides 4, 5. However, while in the first guide 4, in the open state of the flap 1, the first bearing point is located at the structural second end of the first guide 4, in the second guide 5, the second bearing point is located at the structural first end of the second guide 5, i.e., at the point at which the second bearing point is located when the flap 1 is closed. The first trajectory therefore starts at the first end of the first guide 4 and ends at the second end of the first guide 4. The second trajectory starts at the first end of the second guide 5, leads to the second end of the second guide 5, and ends again at the first end of the second guide 5. In Fig. 2, the flap 1 is shown in its central position, in which the first bearing point is arranged at the reversal point in the curved part of the first guide 4, while the second bearing point is located at the second end of the second guide 5. From this state, the first bearing point slides further to the second end of the first guide 4, whereas the second bearing point returns to the first end of the second guide 5. In the case of the first guide 4, the first end point and the second end point of the trajectory are spatially separated (and correspond to the ends of the guide 4), whereas in the case of the second trajectory they spatially coincide. In other exemplary embodiments, however, the second guide 5 can also be V-shaped, for example with a very acute angle between its two legs, so that here too the end points of the movement trajectory correspond to the two ends of the guide groove and thus spatially separate.

[0026] In the Fig. 1 and Fig. 3, the flap 1 is shown only halfway, with its opening and closing kinematics being determined by the first guide 4 and the second guide 5, which are arranged in the plate element 7. In Fig. 2, the entire flap 1 is shown from behind, so that the entire opening mechanism can be seen. Fig. In the preferred embodiment shown in Figure 2, the flap 1 can have a second plate element 8, in which a further first guide groove 41 and a further second guide groove 51 are arranged. Accordingly, a further first guide pin 21 and a further second guide pin 31 can be provided, by means of which the flap 1 is also mounted on its other side and can be guided kinematically. The second plate element 8 can be located opposite the first plate element 7 and have a mirror-symmetrical structure. Fig. However, the two-sided mounting of the flap 1 shown in Figure 2 is by no means mandatory. Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 can be used, in which only one plate element 7 is arranged on one side of the flap 1.

[0027] In the Fig. 4-6 shows a perspective side view of a charging interface of an electric vehicle. Here, the flap 1 according to the invention serves as a charging flap, which conceals the charging interface ( Fig. 4). If necessary, the flap 1 can be opened, whereby it is first retracted into the body part 6 of the vehicle body and thus releases the charging socket 10 ( Fig. 5). The flap 1 can then be at least partially moved out of the opening 9 again, so that it forms a kind of roof over the inserted charging plug 11 ( Fig. 6). If the flap 1 were not extended again and during the charging process a situation such as in Fig. 5 prevail, the charging socket 10 and / or the opening 9 would be unprotected from the weather conditions due to the fully open charging opening. By partially extending the flap 1 from the charging opening, it can prevent snow or rainwater from entering the opening 9 unhindered. The degree to which the flap 1 can be extended from the opening 9 can be adjusted as required by adjusting the shape and position of the guides, in particular designed as guides 4, 5. For example, the flap 1 can be extended so far that its outer / lower edge protrudes beyond the essential part of the charging plug 11.

Claims

[1] Flap (1) including opening mechanism, wherein the opening mechanism comprises a first guide (4) and a second guide (5), in or on each of which a guide pin (2, 3) fastened to an inner side of the flap (1) is mounted, which guide pin is movable along a trajectory predetermined by the corresponding guide (4, 5) between a first end point and a second end point and vice versa, whereby the flap (1) is movable between a closed position and an open position and vice versa; wherein in at least one of the at least two guides (4, 5) the first end point and the second end point spatially diverge; whereby the flap (1) including the opening mechanism characterized byis that the trajectories are selected such that during an opening process of the flap (1) it is first displaced from its position closing an opening (9) into the opening and is at least partially moved out of the opening (9) at the end of the opening process. [2] Flap (1) with opening mechanism according to claim 1, wherein, in plan view of the flap (1) in its closed state, the guides (4, 5) are arranged on the same side of the flap (1). [3] Flap (1) with opening mechanism according to one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the guides (4, 5) are arranged in a plate element (7) so that the trajectories predetermined by them lie in one plane. [4] A flap (1) with an opening mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a connecting line between the first end points on the trajectories and a connecting line between the second end points on the trajectories are not parallel to each other. [5] Flap (1) with opening mechanism according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein at a time during the opening process of the flap (1), in which the flap (1) is arranged in a position maximally retracted into the opening (9), one guide pin (2) has covered a longer distance on its trajectory than the other guide pin (3) has covered on its trajectory. [6] Flap (1) with opening mechanism according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein at least one of the trajectories has an arcuate section whose legs are arranged at an acute angle relative to each other. [7] Flap (1) with opening mechanism according to claim 6, wherein at least a portion of the other trajectory is arranged between the two legs of the arcuate trajectory. [8] Charging interface for a motor vehicle for charging its traction battery, wherein the charging interface has a charging socket (10) which is covered with the flap (1) including the opening mechanism according to one of claims 1 to 7. [9] Motor vehicle with a traction battery and a charging interface according to claim 8.

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